July 27, (THEWILL) – Ikono, Itu, Oron and Uyo local government areas in Akwa Ibom State have been selected to benefit from the 73 LGAs to be demarcated at the end of the 16th phase of the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) exercise ongoing in the country, Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission, Akwa Ibom State, Engr. Benjamin Ukpong, has disclosed.
The Commissioner, who made the disclosure during a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting and flag-off of EAD in Itu Local Government Area on Tuesday, noted that it was a constitutional mandate of the Commission to enumerate the population of the country periodically through censuses and sample surveys.
He said: “In furthermore of the constitutional provision, the commission had commenced preparations for the conduct of the next National Population and Housing Census in the country.
“EAD is a key preparatory activity for any census as it involves the division of the entire country into small geographical units that can be conveniently covered by a pair of enumarators during the period of the Census. It is the foundation upon which the entire Census architecture rest and forms the basis for the planning and execution of the Census project.
“The sample frame derived from EAD is the one used by all data collecting organizations, including: MDAs, research institutions, inter-ministerial agencies, including the IMF and the World Bank to monitor the economic and financial performance of the state and the country as a whole.”
Ukpong noted that it was the resolve of the Commission to deliver an accurate, reliable, acceptable and verifiable census, and that the EAD exercise would provide the framework for such.
He stated that, to ensure professional and scientifically proven results from the exercise, the Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology earlier adopted for the project will still be applied to achieve the needed result.
The Commissioner noted that NPC was assisting INEC to create digitalised maps of registration areas (wards) for the first time as part of the EAD, which, according to him, will ensure a digital delineation and documentation of ward boundaries to positively impact on future elections in the state and country.
The state Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel urged the people of the state, especially community leaders, to create the enabling environment for proper documentation of their areas as the exercise will determine the outcome of the actual census.
The Governor, who was represented at the event by the Special Adviser on Political Affairs/Social Reorientation, Hon. Amanam Nkanga, stated that the state government understands the huge benefits of proper demarcation and would stop at nothing in contributing her part to ensure the success of the exercise in the state.
“Whatever the NPC will need to make Enumeration Area Demarcation successful in the council area has been provided, what is needed from the community is cooperation. Some of the people coming to work are strangers, they need your guide,” the Governor stressed, urging each community to provide two persons who will conduct the NPC officials round.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Itu Local Government Area, Barr. Etetim Onuk, said government and international donor agencies rely on available statistics to formulate policies and allocate dividends, saying it was imperative to take advantage of the opportunity to correct past anomalies.
Speaking, a former NPC Director and the Chairman, Agric Loans Board in the state, Hon. Else Esara, noted that development cannot be separated from population, advising that the EAD exercise be taken very seriously to ensure that proper demarcation is done that would guarantee accurate census statistics subsequently.
Paramount Ruler of the Itu Local Government Area, HRH Edet Inyang, promised to meet with all the village heads and community leaders in the council area to give strict instructions and work out modalities that would ensure a perfect demarcation exercise in Itu.
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